1/3 of the way through it based on seeing this note. I like it. He borrows heavily from authors I’m familiar with, Deleuze, Baurdillard, Zizek, etc.. so there’s not anything terribly new about what he’s bringing to the table, but he does bring them all together nicely and correctly for his purpose. His inclusions from pop culture like Nirvana, the movie Heat, etc.. are really cool.
He definitely knows what he’s talking about. I’m glad to have picked it up.
Glad you're liking it! I'm familiar with the names of the authors you listed, but haven't read any of their work. What do you recommend starting with?
That’s purely a matter of taste. Personally, I’m a fan of Jean Baudrillard because I speak French and he often comes off as intentionally convoluted, which I find kinda funny. One of his books doesn’t have anything to do with the field of economics but the idea he’s putting forward is pretty fucking cool. SIMULACRA AND SIMULATION is the name of that one. It’s short, more like a long essay in book form.
The other is my favorite of his which does involve capitalism rather heavily in a sociological/psychological way, FOR A CRITIQUE OF THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE SIGN. It also involves semiotics which is the study of signs, but the book explains the concepts it uses so you wouldn’t need any previous familiarity to comprehend it.
For Zizek: The Sublime Object of Ideology. I’m a fan of the study of propaganda and ideology. It involves a lot of work by French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, which does actually make the book difficult if you’re not familiar with much of it. I’m not and wasn’t. But still worthwhile if you’re intent on reading him.
For Deleuze: I’ve only read an introduction to his work and some kind of collection of essays related to ontology, I think. It was more than a decade ago, tbh.
If the Capitalist Realism book was out of your comfort zone, Baudrillard is going to be even bit further out there. But he’s my favorite, by far.
Also, this stuff all falls under the umbrella of Critical Theory, which rightfully earns a bad wrap when people actually try to put into practice or make policy out of it. But as an intellectual exercise, it’s pretty fun and will challenge your worldview.
Thanks for this! I definitely have some good reads coming up based on this list!
